Music: BOB FM - a strange new station where Steve Perry's "Oh Sherry" is followed by Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and then the Fray's "Over My Head." It's an interesting mix of memories and current hits. I'm liking it. Much thanks to an old friend for cluing me in on this. Boy, did I whine yesterday or what? Color me a pale shade of mortified. I'd like to say that normally I'm Not That Whiney but just last night I caught myself giving some good whine to CBoy (one of my best friends, who I haven't seen in a while) as he was leaving after a Very Short Quasi-Visit (i.e. he came over for 30 minutes to drop his spawnling off). I should probably mention that those thirty minutes were bliss, in case he's reading this. They were! Bliss! If bliss is listening to him talk to Mr. Clean, while standing outside in the raging Texas heat, where I could literally FEEL my newly washed and styled hair draw up into humidity soaked Medusa curls of chaos. All the things I've been dying to talk about with him... replaced by an Engaging! Thought Provoking! discussion... about computers. I rolled my eyes so many times, I gave myself a headache. But I did get a few hugs - which I am ever so thankful for as I am a hug junky.

Obviously, I am not getting enough to sustain my cheerfully optimistic outlook these days. (See? Junky. One is never enough and I got at least three yesterday!)Really, though, I think it all boils down to how much I despise the busy in our lives these days. It's always busy, busy, busy... go, go, go and I find myself craving those quiet moments where spending time with friends was a normal occurence without a countdown timer in the background, instead of a delicacy like the occasional date with Mr. Clean.I'm relegated to instituting a "Friend Day," much as you might schedule a "Sex Night" and I can't be the only one who thinks that sucks.Today, I am on the warpath to oust the whiney. I am going to be Cheerful! and Happy! and Smiley! And then people are going to start asking me what drugs I'm taking.Good news not yet imparted - I wrote so many words on my WIP this past weekend, I didn't even take a count. My eyes temporarily crossed and my brain paralyzed by the verbal outflow, I finally stopped on Sunday evening and promptly collapsed on the couch to read the remainder of California Demon (by Julie Kenner and it kicks ass, so go read it). I counted them today: 16,750. It doesn't get much better than that, folks. Except, well, Finishing might be nice. It's a good thing I'm so invested in this WIP or I'd just be sick of it by now. But I'm not! I'm still in hot pink fluffy love with it - as much as I was when I first started the synopsis/outline back in November. I blame the slow pace on my lack of writing during the week and a seriously-out-of-the-way-waste-of-time scenic route I took a few months back. I'm back on track now and it's smokin'. I'd really like to finish it by Halloween (as in revised and ready to be shopped around to agents).I need to finish it soon because I have a few other ideas that are starting to flesh themselves out in my head. I rambled off one of the ideas last week to Mr. Clean and a few comments later, it had exploded like a life raft in a very small space. He laughed as I scrambled for my writing journal, while shrieking about not being able to find a pen (they all disappear when I need them!). There are a few details still a mystery to me but the characters' voices are starting to gain momentum and volume and drowning them out to finish the WIP is getting mighty difficult.Another idea is remaining somewhat quiet but emphatic in her silence. She (it is a she idea, no doubt) stands in the back of my mind, tapping her foot - patiently, rather than in annoyance. When I look at her, she shrugs and says, "Whenever you are ready." I tell her it won't be long and she shrugs again. "Like I said, whenever. No rush." But her blasé patience is unnerving somehow. I don't think I'm ready for her just yet. I have a feeling she's going to be the one who rips my heart out in the process of writing.And Oh My Dog, just writing that prompted something BIG. Had to take a quick break to jot it all down. See? Must. Finish. WIP. This is all too much for my brain to handle at once. More ousting the whiney goodness -- a convo with BabySis last night:BS: So, are you ready for the good news?Me: You got Friday off and are going to Shopping Hell with me? Please say Yes. Please!BS (laughing): Yes!Me (dancing): Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I get to keep my hair! (I'd told her earlier that if she didn't go, I'd snatch myself bald)Me: You have to come over Thursday night and spend the night so you can help me Bake! Cupcakes! BS: Ummm. I can't do that.Me: Why Not? You have an aversion to baking?BS: I have a boxing lesson at 6am Friday morning.Me: Oh. Okay. Well you'll be here right after then, yes?BS: I have to shower first but yes.Me: Just take a shower here and then you can help me Bake! Cupcakes! before we go shopping.BS: No. Then I take a nap.Me: What?BS: A nap.Me (thinking back to the day she came all the way over here to SLEEP for an hour and then left, like Chez Dragonfly was a Rest Stop): Are you kidding me?BS: No. I can't make it through the day without a nap after working out.Me: Have you never heard of COFFEE?BS: That won't help when I'm just getting four hours of sleep between work and everything else.Me (almost peeing myself laughing): Oh hon, I can't WAIT until you have kids. Four hours is like a vacation around here some days.BS (miffed): Fine. I'll help you bake and then we'll go shopping.Me (giggling): That's what I thought.Cuz, see... she KNOWS that if she does not help me bake those damn cupcakes, she's not going to get to EAT any of them. And if she falls asleep while I'm baking them, I'm going to drip THINGS on her... like lime juice and ice water and whipped cream. Man, I love having a baby sister to RAZ.

1. Absolutely! If they are good. Which they had better be, because I already bragged about them to my family. They were awesome in my dream. Heh.

2. OMG. Chicken Foot is the most hilarious game, if you're playing with people who have a great sense of humor. I think it started as an Aggie game. Figures. I'll find the rules and email them to you.

Imagine If... - I'm going to email you about this one too. For everyone else - check out AreYouGame.com. I think it's there. Another FUNNY game and you'll seriously find out what your friends think about you (and vice versa).